ClareQuilty

They all sound expensive compared to the 80k brand new Kubota tractor the gf's uncle bought.

I dont buy new bikes in Thailand. I have a good way of buying bikes and i will stick to that.

I couldn't agree more! No need to ever have more than ten grand in a bike, and I've got some good ones I only paid 5-6K for.

It just depends on what you like. I can't stand automatics, but apparently many people like them. They just drive so badly compared to a a regular bike - they seem imbalanced, and it is very annoying not to have control of the gearing, also the seating position is somewhat ridiculous. Though I suppose it suits young girls who want to wear high heels, or people who really need to avoid getting their trousers/shoes splashed in rainy season.

In fact when I go on holiday to a tourist zone most rental places now have only automatics, though once in a while I can persuade the owner to dig up an old regular bike for me. Nevertheless, most of the time I do have to drive an automatic for a few days or a week every few months, so its not like I haven't given them a chance. Every time I long to get rid of the thing.

Obviously the clutchless click-through ones aren't as enjoyable to drive as a bike with clutch, but they sure beat the autos for me, and because you don't have the left hand-brake autos have, you have actually more potential for a free hand for SMSing or drinking a Coke.

I think i might get that last red/white one. But i have to go back to the US for a while so id have to find a place to store it or pray its still there when i get back.

You can 'store' it with me, KRS1 - I'm just an hour's drive from that shop. Heh heh.

...I remember when i bought a new NSR, i'd have to pull the choke and no throttle to start it , or else it wouldn't start.

I have to say that sounds normal - that's how my Tiaras are, though my Hondas less so.

Clarequilty thanks again!!!!

I'm so glad to have been of some assistance to you! Happy trails!

dont let the dealer force you to put a bike in your wifes name ,its as easy to register a bike to a farang as a thai national

the forms are the exact same providinng the farang can prove he lives or works in thailand

Yes I know! I'm single and own several bikes.

Hoping that tommorrow this time i'm the proud owner of a brand new TZM 150 !!!!

Will be continued.............

Good luck. I don't think you'll have any problem with the registration (actually that's in reply to KRS1 also). That dealer told me that if I bought a bike they would take care of the registration and so forth for me (as all dealers do).

I'm not saying its the case with this particular dealer, but usually long-standing dealers have a 'close relationship' with the guys who take care of such matters - thank goodness for corruption!

Actually you're far more likely to run into a dealer unfamiliar with 'farang' who will say the bike cannot be registered in your name than you are to have problems with the legality of the registration itself. But yeah, I wouldn't be too surprised some little peccadilloes come up, such as having to pay a couple of thousand for a new green book, or an insistence it be put in your lady-friend's name.

I hesitate to reply as I have no solution for you, but since others have shared their stories of 'kickback' or kick-start levers kicking back I will too, as the bike that did it to me was more similar to yours.

I once had a new Honda Wave 125 I was talked into purchasing about six years ago and the thing was horrible for kicking back when you tried to kick start it - it was like the cylinder was always in the wrong place in its stroke for kickstarting, no matter what. Its funny because other Waves I've driven were not like that, and most other small engine bikes are not, whether four or two stroke.

That bike had several other problems - difficult to start in cold weather, a few little rough edges on various plastic parts that actually cut my hands - and it ended up absolutely turning me against Waves and generally leading me to favor the three other brands now nearly run out of business in Thailand.

Btw, just an edit to add an admittedly sexist comment... have you guys ever watched a foreign woman try to kick start a motorbike?

I seriously interested to pick up one of those ( a TZM)

You know when they where last produced?? they must been in that showroom quite some years.

I don't know but I guess at least ten years. Its a quaint shop - however the phenomenon of a certain type of Chinese Thai shop-owner keeping stock around forever is not unknown. I don't have a number but the location below is I think the right one:

Sure they are new?

There appears to be 5 Yamaha dealers in Khon Kaen. Know which one by any chance?

Yeah I'm sure they are new - I mean, the guy has had them there for years and years, plus he has dozens of other old/new bikes (mostly Tiaras and Mates).

I think this is the location:

http://www.farangfri...City-95399.aspx

Oh and I just remembered - it is directly opposite the well-known farang bar called 'Number One Bar'.

Yamaha dealer in Khon Kaen has brand new TZM/TZR for sale for about 60k. They've been on his showroom floor since they were manufactured.. about six of them there. He also has a fair stock of parts for this kind of older bike so it might be of help to you.

I'm dismayed but not surprised to hear that there is talk of the horrible gasohol being forced upon us again, as I have several much-loved old two-strokes. No doubt it is this awful government.. keep your fingers crossed, maybe the you-know-whats will roll in the you-know-whats again soon.

If you are kee-neeow then its time you learned to do your own repairs rather than 'trusting' a backstreet chang? Alot of us here don't trust Thai mechanics, primarily because most of them have no training.

Well I also have had no training whatsoever, MaiChai, and anyway I'm much lazier than I am kee-neeow.

_{Is the exhaust system as standard? This could also have an effect on the powerband being higher up the rev range and squeezed into a couple of 1000 revs, rather than a broader spread of power.}

Yeah it seems to be standard... it looks the same size and shape as my other Tiara (which has a broader power band).. also I did just have it cleaned out and it was ok.

I honestly don't think the bike was very much modified when I got it.. looked pretty 'stock'. I paid 5,000 baht for it, a good price I think for a 6-spd dual disk brake Tiara in reasonable condition - though it did need an engine rebuild, new wheels and tires, and a new seat.

CQ,

Sounds like the idle/low speed so either the air screw adjustment is wrong or the pilot jet is partially plugged or both. I guess it could also be the reed valves.

I'd start with a carburetor cleaning and readjustment.

Yes, sound like the mixture is too lean. Try turning the air screw clockwise 1/4 or 1/2 turn and see if it helps.

Thanks guys - any idea how to tell the mechanic to do this in Thai? I'm sure he's already cleaned out the carb when he rebuilt the engine.. its just a matter of telling him to adjust the mixture and check/fix the 'pilot jet'.

I use my girlfriend Suzuki Smash 110cc alot and its a tough beast. I recently rebuilt the engine and replace crankshaft bearing, etc, but this bike has received alot of abuse and done alot of kms, and its still going strong! Quite often I use it in preference to the NSR SP. Its just so easy to ride and really economical, easy and cheap to fix, and to be honest, the best 9000 baht I ever spent and that was 5 years ago! I was surprised how over engineered the engine is; the gears are really big and chunky.

Just out of curiosity, how much did it cost for that engine rebuild?

The bike feels like there's almost a flat spot from low engine speeds, and then just comes on almost too strong when you rev it up.

CQ,

You will not get the same characteristics out of a 120 2-T that you will out of a 110 4 stroke.

Yeah, I know, nor would I want to. The 110-112cc four strokes I have are not very powerful. What I'm getting at is that the bike runs relatively poorly at the low end compared to other two-strokes I've had. Its a drive-ability issue about throttle response. So, maybe somethings slightly wrong, or maybe the bike is 'tuned' more towards the higher end.

What sort of speeds do you ride at? What gears do you use.

I mostly drive around at 30-80 in 3rd through 6th gear, but the difficulty with the bike is mostly from take-off to about 30kph - it just doesn't have a smooth, steady power delivery (torque?) - again comparing it to other two strokes that I've had. Its kind of weak and a very slightly stumbley, and then just 'switches on' once it hits a higher rpm and goes a bit wild. I know this is a characteristic of two-strokes, but like I say I've had several (Tenas, Tiaras) in which this characteristic was considerably less pronounced.

Could this be due to the 'mix'? Rich vs. lean? Or is it the 'jets'? As in not enough fuel going in at the lower engine speeds and too much at the higher rpms? My understanding is very rudimentary, but I think there is a different 'jet' for the lower end and the higher end? (or perhaps the lower end one has a different name than a jet -- the 'needle' or 'needle clip'? Maybe also something called the 'pilot'?). I hate to have the mechanic tear down the engine again - he just rebuilt it a month ago, and it seems solid.

Thanks guys. I should have clarified I don't want to spend more than a thousand baht or so on the fix.. maybe 1500 if it meant getting an all new carb or something like that.

The bike is really fun, but yeah, it just feels dangerous to me with that all-or-nothing power, and its so different from my other Tiara which is a better all-rounder.

I think I sort of shot myself in the foot because I kept taking it back to my mechanic complaining of the bikes lack of power (before it just didn't seem to have much power at any engine speed), and he switched the big sprocket from a 35 to I think he said a 37 tooth without even asking me (I have to admit the bike felt higher-geared than my other two strokes), and previously he did something to it which made it run a bit differently at start-up and idle as well as during driving. What I want is as much low-end power as possible in a two stroke, for a solid, pleasant driving experience. I have no use for the high-end power wheelie craziness (and yes, the 120cc does feel scary on this rather small bike).

Question about my 120cc two stroke Tiara - if I want to have the mechanic tune it for more low-end torque and immediate throttle response, what needs to be done?

The bike feels like there's almost a flat spot from low engine speeds, and then just comes on almost too strong when you rev it up. I'd like it to be a little more balanced and not so nothing-to-too-much on the power band.

Thanks guys, those of you who are suggesting the oil plug thingy are probably barking up the right tree. I remember bashing the bottom of the bike pretty hard on a kind of driveway lip soon after I got it.

Anyway after this last oil change the rate of leakage seems drastically reduced so maybe the mechanic 'seated' it better when he screwed it in. If it leaks much more I'll take it in and get a new plug. I had thought maybe it was something much more involved than that, but it sounds cheap enough.

But yeah, I'm as kee-neeow as any Thai, or nearly.

The Philippines is good for one thing in my opinion - a place to escape Song-Kran.

Not too far away, not too expensive, and no water-throwing.

When you run out of old semi-auto bikes and are forced to buy something newer , CVT scooters CAN use car oil as they have no wet clutch. Honda has two oils one for CVT and one for you.

Haha, I've had automatic bikes before and I didn't like them. I'm not interested in getting one unless it would be to rent out to someone.

But as for the bike in question, I took the cap off and there was no dipstick at all, and I didn't see any oil in there when I peered in, so I thought it might be low. I took it to a mechanic, and he stick a kind of homemade stick in there and said the oil was low, so I had him change it, but when it poured out there was a fair amount in.. just not nearly the full amount. I hate to spend any more money on the bike fixing the oil leak, so I think I'll just try driving it as is. I have an idea that maybe the oil only leaks out down to a certain point - as in it doesn't ALL leak out. After all I suspect when I got the bike the oil hadn't been changed (and probably not even added) in ages.

Thanks guys. I have yet to try the cleaning the exhaust pipe solution, but I intend to. As for the air filter or compression, or the spark plug, I'm 90% sure he did all that when he rebuilt the engine - for sure he always puts a new air filter on when he gets a fixer-upper of mine, and I usually ask him to put a new spark plug. As for the compression, unless he did the rebuild badly it should be OK.

VocalNeal, you're probably right it would do me good as far as understanding to work on the bikes a little bit more myself, but its so cheap to go to the repairmen here I haven't been motivated. The real hurdle is communication - and my Thai keeps getting gradually better, though its still pretty poor.. such is the case when one is a teacher and surrounded by English speakers most of the time.

Usually the oil fill cap has a built in dipstick. On the Yamaha it is the plastic cap in the front of the RHS of the engine.

This is Honda but similar

Use oil from Honda not car oil. Car oil sometimes has additives that your bike clutch may not like. Of course we don't know what your local mechanic used.

Ah, thanks again. I'll check it tomorrow. The mechanic used real motorbike oil, I saw him take it down off his shelf.

I have only ever had the oil changed in such motorbikes, not checked - things like Wave-style step-through bikes like Yamaha Fresh or Kawasaki Cheer. The old Cheer I'm driving has an oil leak which leaves a pretty significant puddle after a week of sitting, and about a silver dollar sized one after just a day of sitting, so I'm kind of nervous it will run out of oil and ruin the engine.

Is there a way I can check the oil level in a bike like this - I don't see any dipstick like in a car motor. Also, I have a lot of extra car-oil left from my car's oil changes {I think it is 10w-50 oil or 20w-50) - can this be used in the bike? I just want to top it up a bit maybe once a month.

Thanks Lickey, that sounds like a good theory, and though it is beyond my ability I'll try to get the mechanic to do that soon.

Reminds me of when I first bought a little Honda Smile a year or two ago - it had only ever been driven very slowly put-putting around the town, and there was a lot of black gunk around the back of the exhaust pipe. Well as soon as I got it I drove it about 80 kph for about 16 kilometers on a warm night, and a when I stopped I noticed there was a lot of smoke coming from the tailpipe even after I turned it off - I think it was all the gunk burning in there.

Btw, when one takes off the exhaust pipe, do you have to cut the pipe and re-attach it by soldering?

An easy qiuck cheap fix is find an old fan belt, put the bike on center stand, cut the belt and wind into the lower coils of the spring, tape or hose clip it into place and job done, but 450bht is cheap,and all is ok now, Good..

Wow! Now that is a helpful suggestion. A day late, but next time I'll try that.

I have two Tiaras, both as far as I know with the same 120cc two-stroke one finds in all Tiaras, one happens to run fantastic with loads of power and very 'revvy', as in it eagerly revs from take off. The other Tiara was a fixer-upper, and I had the engine rebuilt, which did improve the running greatly, and it ran nicely, good idle, but didn't really have much power. As a friend said, 'it feels like a four stroke'. It just didn't seem to want to rev up much at all, with no higher end power.

The mechanic said it was an 'oversize piston', so I guess it had been bored out or something before. What could be causing this poor power? Could it be the carburetor? Could the fact that the engine may have been bored-out previously mean that the carb or 'jets' should be different?